| Jan. 5th, 2009 @ 10:21 pm Theatre review: Wig Out! |
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First theatre trip of 2009 is to see Wig Out! at the Royal Court, Tarrell Alvin McCraney's glitzy story of two rival drag queen "houses" competing in the Cinderella Ball. Eric The Red (Alex Lanipekun, better-looking up close than he was in Spooks) is a straight-acting gay man who is usually only attracted to other butch guys, but he's won over by Wilson's advances. Wilson is also known as Nina, a drag queen at the House of Light, who have been challenged to the Ball by their arch-rivals, House Diabolique.
Designer Ultz has replaced the Jerwood's stage and stalls with a catwalk, which is well-utilised in the production. The comedy and spectacle elements are handled very well, and the performances are full of energy, but things fall flatter when McCraney tries to slow things down and deal with a more serious side. Much of the problem for me was that we're never clear how we're supposed to view the House of Light - they're referred to as a welcoming family, albeit a dysfunctional one, but they're ruled over by the frankly terrifying "father" of the house, Lucien, a bully who seems to demand sexual favours from the rest. Part of the problem may be in the casting, as Danny Sapani looks a good couple of decades older than Lucien is described in the script, which just makes the image of a seedy old man all the stronger. Ultimately you find yourself rooting more for the Diabolique "bad guys," Drew Caiden and Billy Carter, who at least wear their bitchiness on their sleeves.
Another annoyance is something that appears a lot in theatre and is a bit of a bugbear with me - OK, so maybe we can suspend disbelief a bit with regards to a couple, gay or straight, falling head over heels for each other in one night, but Wilson's insistence on regaling Eric with quasi-poetic sentiments of love after one night together would realistically have him running for the hills, even if he wasn't, as it's clear here he is, already outside his comfort zone.
However there's plenty of strong performances in Dominic Cooke's production, including Kevin Harvey as the house "mother" Rey-Rey, Jessika Williams as the leader of the chorus of real women, while Nathan Stewart-Jarrett nicely makes the distinction clear between Nina and Wilson.
Ultimately it's hard to fathom (or care) what more serious points McCraney is trying to make in amongst the glitter; best to just enjoy the glamour and not worry too much about the parts that don't really work.
Wig Out! by Tarrell Alvin McCraney is booking until the 10th of January at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs. |
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